


Maybe Tomorrow Will be Different

by aislingdoheanta



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: 4x12 - Freeform, Episode Related, Gen, M/M, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-28
Updated: 2014-05-28
Packaged: 2018-01-26 21:30:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1703225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aislingdoheanta/pseuds/aislingdoheanta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mandy tries to get Ian out of bed and ends up taking care of him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Maybe Tomorrow Will be Different

**Author's Note:**

> Posted originally on my tumblr [HERE.](http://saras-almanac.tumblr.com/post/86011297420/fic-a-day-in-may-day-seventeen)

Mandy tried the first time after Mickey had left to go to the Alibi. She made Ian a sandwich and brought in some water. She hoped that he was just feeling a little sick and the food would help.

“Ian?” She called as she gently opened the door. There was no response.

“I made you a sandwich,” she said quietly.

Ian just mumbled something that Mandy couldn’t understand.

Mandy set the plate and water on the little table next to the bed. Ian’s eyes were open, but they were unfocused. It was creepy and it made Mandy think of someone who slept with their eyes open.

She knelt down next to the bed and ran her fingers through Ian’s hair. “Mickey said you were feeling sick.”

The only response she got was from Ian to close his eyes.

Mandy continued playing with his hair. “You wanna try eating? It might make you feel a little better.”

Again, no response.

“It’ll make Mickey and I feel better,” she tried instead.

“I can’t,” Ian whispered.

Mandy felt like someone just cut into her and pulled out her stomach. She hadn’t meant to make him feel guilty and she definitely hadn’t wanted him to respond in a broken whisper. This was Ian, _her_ Ian _._ The guy who had gone to bat for her more times than she could count. Her best friend. The person was always there for her. The boy who never let things keep him down for long.

He was her knight in shining armor. He had saved her from creepy guys. He had saved her from her dad. He’d even saved her from herself.

So now, maybe it was her turn.

“That’s okay,” Mandy whispered back. “You can’t help if you’re sick.”

She kissed the top of his head. Ian had always been affectionate. She fixed the blankets around him, pulled them tighter. She even pulled the curtains closed again, to keep the afternoon sunlight out.

“I’ll leave it here in case you get hungry,” she said, pausing to gently squeeze his arm. “And there’s water there too if you need it.”

She hesitated at the open door. “I’m right outside if you need anything.”

There was no response. She hadn’t expected one.

\--------------------------------------------------------

Mandy heard Mickey talking to Ian and hadn’t heard any response from the other boy. Until she did.

“Jesus! Leave me alone!”

Mandy cringed and walked to the door. It was the first time Ian had really talked all day. It was shouting and it was anger, but that had to count for something, right?

Mickey’s shoulders fell and the look on his face nearly broke her heart. She had known Ian and Mickey were shacking up, that they obviously cared about each other. Mickey came out for fuck’s sake—to their homophobic father.

It was just hard to see the evidence right in front of her in this way.

“The fuck’s wrong with him?” Mickey asked her.

Mandy could only shrug and walked to the kitchen. She heard Mickey shut the door.

He came into the kitchen, nearly pulling at his hair. “I-I don’t know what to do,” he told her, his voice rising.

“Shh,” Mandy said. “Keep your voice down, Mick.”

He looked at her like he wanted to tell her to go fuck herself, but then changed his mind. “He ever get like this with you?”

Mandy shrugged. “Not really, no.”

“The fuck you mean, not really?” Mickey questioned. “It’s either yes or fucking no.”

Mandy rolled her eyes. “It was months ago. Before he left. He just…was sad and upset so he stayed in bed for a while. Said he was sick.”

“You think it’s the same thing now?” Mickey asked.

“I don’t know, Mickey.” Mandy looked down at her fingers. “But I don’t think so.”

“Why?”

“It was different last time,” Mandy admitted. “He talked to me, kinda. And there was a reason for him to feel so down.”

“What fucking reason?” Mickey asked and the desperation in his eyes caused her to keep her mouth shut. She couldn’t tell him that Ian hadn’t left his bed because he was heartbroken over Mickey.

“Doesn’t matter,” Mandy said. “It’s just not what’s happening now.”

Mickey closed his eyes and breathed heavily through his nose.

“I gotta go,” he announced. He didn’t even glance backward as he grabbed his coat from where he’d thrown it and walked out the door.

Mandy hoped that he would calm down before he got back. His anger wasn’t doing Ian any good.

She filled a mug with water and threw it in the microwave because she didn’t know what else to do. Had no idea of what else she _could_ fucking do. So she set the timer on it and rummaged around the cabinets for the tea they kept.

It had been something their mom had done. When they had been sick, she always made them tea. Claimed it would help them feel better because it was special. Turned out it was special because you could buy a lot of it with only a few bucks. But Mandy, and even Mickey had grown used to it.

So Mandy made Ian a cup of the tea they had, something with chamomile in it and brought it to the room.

She didn’t say anything as she placed it on the table. The water was gone and almost half the sandwich. Mandy counted it as a win.

Mandy looked down at him before sitting on the bed with him.

“Are you okay?” She knew it was stupid to ask because he clearly wasn’t okay. But she just wanted him to tell her what was wrong, if there was something wrong.

“No.”

Mandy laid down next to him, not caring that she was balancing on the edge of the bed. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close. “It’s okay.”

She didn’t say anything for a minute. Ian didn’t pull away.

“Do you wanna get up? You could take a shower. I could run a bath. We could watch a movie?” Every suggestion was met with silence.

“That’s okay,” Mandy assured him. “When you’re feeling better we’ll do something.”

Mandy let go and slipped out of the bed. “I made you some tea. It’s what my mom used to do when we were sick. Mickey and I keep it up.”

She grabbed the plate and glass of water before walking to the kitchen. She refilled the water glass and then put it back on the table.

“And there’s some more water if you need it.” She reached a hand down to cover the one of Ian’s she could see. She felt his muscles relax in his fist, but he didn’t grab it like he normally would. She just squeezed gently. “I’m right outside. And Mickey will be back in a few minutes. He just ran to get cigarettes.”

She didn’t know why she brought up Mickey, didn’t know why she lied about him. It just felt like maybe that’s something Ian wanted to know about.

She closed the door behind her, leaving Ian alone in the darkness for the second time that day and hoped that maybe tomorrow would be different.

 


End file.
